


another day

by heelsandarrows



Series: hell or highwater [13]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-05-05 12:26:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5375132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heelsandarrows/pseuds/heelsandarrows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>fun father daughter bonding time</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Doug barely stepped into the house when he was attacked by a hug from Connie. She wrapped her arms around his legs in a hug and greeted him. “I’ve missed you too today, Connie,” he replied with a small laugh. “Where’s your mom?” 

“Bedroom. She’s getting dressed. A man called and now she’s gotsta go back to work.”

“I see… You stay here, alright? I’m gonna go talk to her.” Connie obeyed and he made his way upstairs to their bedroom. Before he could even open the door, she swung it open.

“Doug!” She said surprised. “I didn't even hear you come home, listen, I have to go back to the hospital. They just got some-”

He held up his hands to stop her, “Spare me the gorey details for later.”

“Alright,” she began to make her way down the stairs putting on her jacket. “I need you to handle things while I’m gone. I don't know when I’ll be back tonight, so I made a list of groceries we need from the store. Laundry needs to be finished. Connie should, practice piano for 20 minutes, start going over any homework Connie might have for this weekend, and also can you please make our bed? Going to sleep in a made bed is just so much better.”

He nodded, half listening to whatever she was saying. He got the basics down, things would be fine. It want like this was the first time he’d have the night with Connie. She just worried too much, he’d been doing this for six years now. “Yeah… Yeah, I got it.”

She turned to look at her husband and sighed. “You better,” she warned him. She gave him and Connie a kiss before she rushed out the front door. 

He stared at his daughter for a moment before she spoke up. “When’s ammi coming back?” She asked.

“Not until late tonight,” he said with a sigh. “Probably sometime when you’re sleeping, looks like you're stuck with me tonight, sorry kiddo."

Connie jumped up and down excitedly, “Being with you is the bestest! No rules!” 

Doug shook his head laughing, “Well, I’m afraid there’s still gonna be rules. But I’ll make sure we still have fun. Now, how about you go play the piano for a little bit. Then we’ll go out.” Connie crossed her arms and pouted, but ultimately followed his orders. 

He put the load of clothes from the washer to the dryer, and set the dried clothes in a basket that he’d fold later. Doug headed upstairs and stripped the bed, making the bed was one thing, but having clean sheets would please her even more. 

He carried the sheets down, making a detour to the kitchen to grab the shopping list on the table. It’d only been five minutes after he put the sheets in the wash that Connie practiced piano. He knew it was supposed to be twenty minutes, but he couldn't take much longer of ‘Ode to Joy’. Each time she messed up and pressed a wrong note, she’d start the whole thing over. She never made it past the first few measures.

“Alright, let’s say we go to the store now, yeah?” He said interrupting her playing. Connie got off the seat happily and followed him out to the car. Once she was secured in her car seat, and her favorite CD was in, he was off.

It was just going to be a short trip, just get home and get back to doing the rest of the work he had to do. Connie ran a ahead of him and jumped in front of the automatic doors to slide them open. “Baba, how do they open without anybody there to open them?" She asked grabbing her father's hand as he grabbed a cart. 

"Magic," he said with a smile looking down at her. 

She smiled brightly up at him, “I knowed it!” She squealed. “Ammi, says magic isn't real, but she must have lied about it. Magic is real!”

He smiled, maybe the idea of magic was crazy, but it seemed to bring Connie some joy. Besides, who really knew, maybe magic was real. He’d heard about crazy things happening, if magic was real, it’d explain them. He reached into his pocket as they walked and pulled out the list his wife wrote for him. 

Doug stopped moving as he looked down at it. He pushed up his glasses and sighed. It was impossible to read, about three things he could decipher. Milk, eggs, and honey. The rest was complete greek. He was able to make out distinct letters on the last two items, he could read them decently, however he had no idea what it said. Once again, she’d switched languages mid way through something. 

After years of being together, it wasn’t that he couldn’t read her handwriting. Anytime, she took time to write something down, it ended up looking fine. If she was in a hurry, it became a scrawl that he couldn’t read. It was just the doctor in her that came out in the end. When she was stressed out as well, it wasn’t unusual for her to switch languages right in the middle of a sentence. Typically it’d be in hindi and he was able to keep up, but as soon as she switch into tamil he was lost.

The two things connecting on the grocery list, was like a bad dream. He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose looking at it. He felt a tug on his sleeve and he looked down at Connie who he almost forgot was there. “Something wrong?” She asked.

He shook his head, “It’s nothing. I just can’t read the list.”

With that Connie’s eye’s lit up. “I can read!” she said proudly reaching for the list.

He laughed and handed her the list, “Knock yourself out.” He had little faith in her, if he wasn’t able to get it, he didn’t think she would. He decided to let her have it anyway, since learning how to read, Connie read everything she could get her hands on. 

Connie stared at the paper in her hands and wrinkled her nose at it. These weren’t even words. They were scribbles. She didn’t want to give up and admit that she couldn’t read it. She could read anything after all. “Okay!” She said putting on a smile. “First thing. Milk,” she said looking at the paper. 

Even though she couldn’t read it, she was going to fake it for as long as she could. She had an idea of the things that they actually needed at home, and overheard her mom talking about things to get too. 

Connie led her father around the store, looking at the list for a brief second. She looked up at all the shelfs and when she saw something she thought they needed, she stopped to grab it. When it came to soup, she knew that they didn’t have anymore. She’d asked for it for lunch the other day. Her mother always grabbed just regular soup, despite Connie’s asking for the ones with princess shaped noodles. 

She looked over at her father who waited for her to tell her which one. Hesitantly she pointed at the princess can, to her surprise, he grabbed it and put it in the cart. She smiled then pointed to a few other soups with her favorite characters on them. She learned quickly that he had trust in what she was grabbing and putting in. She was able to sneak some things in that weren't a usually picked up item.

Connie pulled the cart at the front down the snack aisle and she looked at all the different choices in front of her. She grabbed a box of cookies and tried to sneakily put it in the cart without her father seeing.

“Kahaani,” he warned, “are those on the list?” 

“Y-yes!” She lied. Connie grabbed the list and pointed to an item on it. “See! It says cookies!” 

Doug pursed his lips, he was skeptical, it was unlike his wife to add cookies to their list, however he had a really hard time resisting when his daughter asked for something. “Alright then,” he said nodding his head. “Put it in.” 

Connie smiled brightly and put the cookies in the cart, she walked along more and wondered if she could do it again. She grabbed another box that seemed pleasing to her eyes and put it in the cart then looked at her father for his reaction. His expression didn't really change, so she turned away and went back to looking at the colorful boxes of food. 

She decided to try it once more, and again he didn't do anything. He let her get the bag of crackers. She felt rebellious at getting treats she wasn't allowed to. But she kept putting more things in that she wanted. 

A while later, they went to the check out. Her dad still hadn't taken anything she out in out. She’d done it. On the way home, Connie couldn't stop thinking about all of the food she got she wanted to try. 

“Alright, Connie,” Doug started when they got back into the house. “Let’s get to your work for the weekend.”

Connie slouched and fell to the ground, “I don't have any work!”

“Well, you should still practice your handwriting and things like that.”

“Baba, please,” she whined. “I just wanna play tonight.” All she wanted was to play with her dolls, watch movies, and eat her new food. Connie sniffled and rubbed at her eyes, turning on the water works. 

Doug looked at her daughter who sat on the ground crying, he wasn't going to fall for this again, he couldn't let himself. He looked away for a moment then back at her. She was now pouting and he was snared. It didn’t make sense after all, she practiced her handwriting plenty of other times, and if she didn’t have any work it wasn’t a big deal. “Alright,” he said giving her a small smile, shaking his head, “Tonight, you can play.”

“Yay!” Connie said popping up excitedly. “Daddy, you’ll play with me, right?”

“Can’t right now, sweetheart, I’ve got some work to do right now.”

“Please?” She begged. 

“Alright,” he said caving into her once more. “What do you want to do?”

Connie thought for a moment looking around. The dryer beeped that it was done and she pointed to it, “A fort! In your room. So we can cuddle in it and watch movies!”

Doug scratched his head and sighed, “I suppose we can do that.” It wasn’t the best idea, but if they could cuddle for a bit and then he could make the bed, things would be fine. Doug gathered up the sheets and headed upstairs with Connie following close behind. She carried a bag of food she got at the grocery store.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to eat it on the bed with her dad seeing, but she had ideas on how she would sneak a few bites. She put the food on her mother’s side of the bed where he wouldn’t see. She rushed to the linen closet and grabbed even more sheets and blankets to give to him.

Connie watched as he went to work, creating a canopy over the bed and television. She rushed to her room and grabbed her blanket, her stuffed lion, and doll. Connie scampered downstairs and grabbed a dvd. 

When she got back into her parent’s room she could hardly recognize it. There were blankets draped everywhere. One section didn’t reach to the floor fully, it was the perfect size for her to walk in and out of. Connie called out to her dad, who ducked under a blanket to see her. She lit up and showed him the movie.   
“Mulan?” He asked taking it from her. “Again?”

She giggled, “I think she’s so cool with her sword and stuff!” She said excitedly. 

“Alright then,” he smiled at her. “You got everything you need before we start?”

She nodded then got up onto the bed. Connie snuggled under the blanket as her father set up the movie, she grabbed the lion and set it next to her, and held her doll in her arms. She ran her fingers through her hair and talked to her. “We’re going to watch Mulan, Rose,” she said informatively. She continued to groom her. Keeping her in prestine condition was always important to Connie. Rose looked just like her. That birthday she got her last year was the best. Her parents finally let her watch Titanic, even though they skipped a few scenes, and she’d gotten a doll. Of course after watching Titanic, Rose was the perfect name for her new best friend. 

Doug got the movie set up and laid down in bed next to his daughter turning the movie on. Connie watched the movie excitedly, but as soon as he got on bed, he could feel himself drifting off. 

By the time that Mulan had been found out to be a girl, he was sound asleep. Connie noticed this right away. She took that opportunity to try some of her food. She dumped the bag on the bed and opened all of the different food. She took a bite of everything. She knew it was wrong to eat junk food in bed, but she didn’t care. 

She was able to consume a good chunk of food before the movie finally ended. When it was done she lept out of bed and turned the tv off. She was full of energy. Connie walked around the house looking for something to do and look for. She couldn’t find anything new and fun. She went back to her parents room and went through the drawers. There hadn’t been anything really interesting to see, it was just a bunch of clothes, there was a magazine in one of her father’s drawer, but she there wasn’t much to read from the look of it, just pictures. 

Connie headed into her parents bathroom and went through the various drawers in there too. She saw her mother’s makeup bag on the counter and reached for it. She wanted to put make up on herself but, she couldn’t see herself in the mirror. She wouldn’t be able to know what she looked like. 

Then she got a brilliant idea, she dragged the makeup case out to the bed and got on it. She carefully removed her father’s glasses and started digging through the make up. He didn’t wake up very easy so it wouldn’t be hard.

She got to work, painting his cheeks and lips, just like she saw everyone do in the movies. It didn't look very good however. He moved slightly whenever she tried to do anything. So she gave up on that again. 

Connie put the makeup away then looked around the house again. She went back to her room and grabbed a book she'd been reading. She went back to her parents bed and crawled up next to her dad and began reading. After that it didn't take long for her to become tired once more. 

She fell asleep resting on her father's arm. 

A few hours later, Priyanka finally got home. It was 3 am, and all she wanted to do was to get into comfortable pajamas, crawl into bed, and cuddle up next to her husband. Getting into her room however there was a surprise that threw a wrench in her plans. 

The nicely made bed she asked for was nowhere to be seen. Instead the sheets were draped over everything. She crawled underneath the small entrance and looked at the scene in front of her. 

Boxes of cookies and bags of chips were on the bed. Priyanka looked at the bags and shook her head. She couldn't believe that he let her eat these. She looked at the two cuddled on the bed and suppressed a laugh. She wasn't sure how exactly his face got covered in makeup, but decided to ignore it. 

She couldn't help but smile and the whole image. Somehow the two managed to take up the entire bed. Priyanka yawned and shook her head, it was 3 am, not the time to be waking them up and giving them a lecture. She just wanted to sleep. She changed into pajamas then made her way out of the fort. 

The couch wasn't comfortable at all. She deserved to at least have a bed after the night she had. So in return for stealing her spot, Priyanka choose to crash on her daughter's bed. She was out like a light. It seemed just a minute she got to sleep until she was woken up by Connie who was pulling her out of bed. "Ammi! This is my bed, not yours!" She got up and rubbed at her eyes. She had a long day ahead of her doing damage control from whatever must've happened last night. All she wanted to do was sleep however.


	2. Chapter 2

He couldn't sleep. He just stared up at the ceiling. The couch wasn't comfortable. He wanted to be in bed, but he wasn’t going to just give up that easily. Doug wanted her to know just how upset he was about this. 

You didn't just decide to make a living will and not discuss it with your spouse. Especially when the end choice was to rather die than keep trying things to keep living. It was her body and choice, but in any event like that, he would be the one left behind. He probably would be more for the idea if she had discussed it with him, but instead he got home and it was brought up so casually. 

Doug heard the stairs creak and he softly groaned. If it was her coming to apologize he really didn't want to hear it. For once in his life he just wanted to be able to be upset. 

There was another creak and he sat up, putting his glasses on and looking over at the stairs. But it wasn’t his wife. “Connie, what’re you doing up still?”

The small girl jumped slightly. “I just wanteds some water. Baba why're you on the couch?”

“I-I, well, I’m just going to be sleeping there for the night. Do you want me to get you the water?”

Connie nodded and her father got off the couch. The six year old followed her father to the kitchen, “Why?”

He grabbed a cup and raised an eyebrow at her, “Why what?”

“Why're you sleeping on the couch? You’ve gots a big bed upstairs with mommy.”

He paused. He didn't really think that he’d have to explain this. How did you explain this without having your child freak out that something is wrong. “Well, I just don’t want to sleep with her tonight, that's all. Ice?”

“Yes please.” Connie was silent as her father poured water in a cup. “Doesn’t ammi want to sleep with you though?” She asked as the cup was handed to her.

“Uh. I-I don’t. Probably not tonight. It's nothing to worry about, just go back to bed, Connie.”

She grabbed her father’s hand and pulled him up the stairs with her. “You have to tuck me in again.”

“Alright,” he replied with a smile following her. 

There was more silence. “Is it because you were fighting? And you're upset at ammi?”

“Kahaani, it's not impor-”

“It's okay to be angry every once in awhile. Because if no one was angry, then it would nots be on the poster of emotions. And ifs it wasn't on the poster it would not even be an emotion at all!”

He wasn't sure his daughter’s logic quite matched up but he choose not to say anything. “I see…” He opened the door to her room. “There’s nothing to worry about however, will you go back to bed now?” Connie nodded, finishing her water and handing the cup to her father. “Goodnight, Kahaani. I love you.” 

He was just about to shut the lights off when she interrupted him again. “Wait! Baba, will you come lay with me?” She scooted over and patted the twin sized bed for him. 

“Yeah, alright.” He sighed slightly, and turned off the lights. Doug crawled into the bed next to Connie. There wasn’t a ton of room to begin with but she had been small enough that it was fine. He could feel himself starting to doze off but then-

“What were you fighting about?”

“Connie, go to sleep.”

Silence again. “Were you fighting because you don’t love each other anymore? There’s a girl in my class who’s parents-”

“No, Kahaani, listen to me,” he just wanted to go to sleep. But this question he couldn't ignore. He reached over and turned on the lamp. “Your mother and I still love each other, and you, and that’s never going to change.” He sat up. “When you’re in love, not everything is going to be perfect all the time. No matter how much you love each other, or how alike or different you are, there’s going to be conflicts.”

Connie frowned, “But why?”

“It’s… Here, it’s like a book, alright? When you read a book, would you rather read a book where the hero runs into a few problems, which lead to adventure, or a book where the hero doesn’t need to go on an adventure, because there’s no problems?”

“Adventure!” She replied happily. “Could it be a magical adventure?”

“Sure,” he said smiling. “So a magical adventure story is like being in love. It’s going to be fun, and exciting. But it’s not always a smooth ride. The hero might have to face a dragon. With love, there could be a dragon. It could come in many forms, like, your own parents. It can be a big thing that you need to get over. But, stories have happy endings, so you know that even though a dragon is in your way, you’re going to be just fine.”

Connie nodded, “Was your fight tonight like a dragon battle?”

He smiled, “No. It was more like, rain. A lot of rain that ends up flooding the roads so you have to continue your journey the next day. It’s not the best thing, but it's very easy to get over.”

“So everything will be back to normal tomorrow?” 

“Yes,” he kissed her head. “Every so often fights will happen, they can be very healthy for a relationship too. It's just important to realize that even when it seems like you're fighting a dragon, you’re going to be fine. The hero always wins.”

Connie smiled again and hugged him tightly, “You’re my hero.”

He grinned, “It’s an honor, Lady Connie,” as she let go of him, he gave a small bow. “However, I feel it’s time for bed. Heroes, and Heroes-in-training, need their sleep.”

She pouted, “But I’m not tired anymore. I wanna stay up with you all night!”

“If you and I stayed up all night, then that would make your mother into a dragon, and that doesn’t sound too fun does it?”

The child giggled and shook her head, “I don't want that.” She sat back down on her bed from where she had been standing on it, and grabbed the blankets pulling them up. “Will you at least tell me a story of you fighting one of your dragons?”

He thought for a moment. He wasn’t sure if she meant a mythical story of him fighting an actual dragon, or an obstacle he faced in his life. He wasn't feeling creative enough for a fantasy, and the only dragon in his life he could clearly think of were his parents. Which was a conversation for another time, when it wasn’t midnight. “Not tonight, Kahaani. It's late, besides that’s a story for when you're older.”

“Pleaseee,” she whined as he turned the night off. “It’s been like a second, and I’m older now!”

“My final answer is no and I'm sticking to that. It's night time. Night time is made for sleeping.” As he lay down next to her, she turned sideways as protest. “Just close your eyes, and focus on sleeping.” He ran his fingers up and down her back lightly, rubbing certain spots, in an attempt to calm down and sleep. 

There were minutes more of silence, he was really starting to nod off but kept lightly tickling her back. “Daddy will you sing me a lullaby?” Her voice gave her away that she was quickly falling asleep too. 

Mixed with the sudden request and him being so tired himself, he couldn’t even think of any actual lullaby. Instead he just sang the first thing to come to mind. “Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana sanam. Pyaar hota hai deewana sanam. Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana sanam…” He was able to get through one chorus before falling asleep. Connie had fallen asleep only moments prior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters in two days!!!!!!!!! woweeee!!!! coming off the hiatus has got me PUMPED and INSPIRED. soooo.


End file.
